Crazy Pokemon Diamond & Pearl exploit unlocks National Pokedex early

A new Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl exploit allows players to unlock the Pokedex and Poke Radar at the start of the game. The workaround could break the Sinnoh remakes in future updates.

While Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl launched to praise from critics and fans in November 2021, the Sinnoh remakes also released with their fair share of bugs and odd glitches.

Fans sifting through the Studio ILCA developed titles have discovered a major exploit that gives Trainers access to the National Pokedex as early as Gym 1. The design flaw could even break the entire game when Pokemon Home debuts in 2022.

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl exploit unlocks National Pokedex early

In BDSP, players are rewarded with the National Pokedex and the Poke Radar after seeing all 150 Pokemon in the Sinnoh Dex. However, a new exploit skips the entire story and gives you access to both at the very start of the game.

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The exploit was first reported on by Pokemon expert Anubis in a December 5 tweet. “Hilariously, you can legitimately get the National Dex and the Poké Radar with 1 badge,” they wrote. “The only requirements are to get to Eterna City and to have all Pokémon viewed in the Sinnoh Dex!”

The post included a video of the design flaw and shows the player obtaining both key items, despite only having one Gym Badge.

Anubis followed up the report with a second tweet and added, “Getting the National Dex with 1 badge also unlocks National Dex exclusive Underground Pokémon. Cacturne can now be found as low as level 16! You can bring more of your favorites with you on your journey.”

Theoretically, two players can use the trade feature to log all 150 Pokemon on a new save file and access the National Pokedex and the complete Grand Underground as early as Eterna City.

Popular Pokemon YouTuber Austin John Plays pointed out the exploit’s bigger issue will happen when Pokemon Home launches in 2022. Dataminer mattyoukhana_ agreed and wrote, “Yeah, it’s gonna be super easy to drop all 150 into your Boxes and immediately get access to everything.”

The exploit is a pretty big deal especially for those that Shiny hunt. Trainers will no doubt be using it to get access to the National Dex and Poke Radar early on to look for the rare variants.

If the design flaw isn’t fixed by the time Home drops, any long-time fan of the series can easily move their boxes of Pokemon over from the cloud service to unlock the key items early.